Protocol for an automated, pragmatic, embedded, adaptive randomised controlled trial: behavioural economics-informed mobile phone-based reminder messages to improve clinic attendance in a Botswanan school-based vision screening programme

BACKGROUND: Clinic non-attendance rates are high across the African continent. Emerging evidence suggests that phone-based reminder messages could make a small but important contribution to reducing non-attendance. We will use behavioural economics principles to develop an SMS and voice reminder message to improve attendance rates in a school-based eye screening programme in Botswana. METHODS: We will test a new theory-informed SMS and voice reminder message in a national school-based eye screening programme in Botswana. The control will be the standard SMS message used to remind parents/guardians to bring their child for ophthalmic assessment. All messages will be sent twice. The primary outcome is attendance for ophthalmic assessment. We will use an automated adaptive approach, starting with a 1:1 allocation ratio. DISCUSSION: As far as we are aware, only one other study has used behavioural economics to inform the development of reminder messages to be deployed in an African healthcare setting. Our study will use an adaptive trial design, embedded in a national screening programme. Our approach can be used to trial other forms of reminder message in the future. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 96528723. Registered on 5 January 2022. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-022-06519-y.